‘Bilateral credit’ scheme could disturb global effort to curb carbon emissions

At a time when negotiations for a new international agreement to tackle global warming faces rough going, the Japanese government is promoting an introduction of a “bilateral credit system,” which is denounced by civic groups as creating a loophole in mechanism to enforce greenhouse gas emission cuts and obstructing international efforts.

Large food growing area Hokkaido threatened by TPP

The Tokachi region of Hokkaido Prefecture is Japan’s major dairy and farming area. Often described as being 1100 percent self-reliant, it has been the largest nation’s food supplier. This “kingdom of food” is now threatened by the government’s sudden declaration to participate in the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) free trade pact.

Budget-screening fails to expose real waste

The budget-screening process has been much touted as a symbol of the change of government. The revitalization council used to ostensibly slash budgets promoted by the former Liberal Democratic-Komei government and antagonized bureaucrats just for show. However, when it comes to the screening of draft budgets requested by the Democratic Party government, an irony is that three key executives at the head of government ministries began criticizing the government’s budget cutting effort.